WHAT IS THE FRINGE?
The Fringe is an original sci-fi cinematic universe launched by a collection of in-world NFT characters called Drifters.
Our plan is dense and multi-faceted, but here’s the broad strokes:
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We mint the Drifter NFTs and create a vibrant community of holders.
Holders will have access to an exclusive creative incubator called The Bench where - along with eligibility for numerous perks, drops, and opportunities - the community will help build the universe and establish the brand.
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We make a movie.
This will be the first film in The Fringe Cinematic Universe, establishing the world, characters, and cementing the brand into pop culture with a worldwide release. Select community-owned Drifters will appear in the film as characters.
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The community decides The Fringe’s future.
The sequel? The series? The video game? The possibilities are endless with a rich cinematic world. The community will guide our path forward, exploring our collectively-built universe through everything from merch and graphic novels to additional films and beyond.
WHAT IS THE STORY?
The Fringe is a wild-west sci-fi sandbox.
It’s the edge of civilized space - the frontier - filled with a broad class of freelancers, all looking to carve their own path through the chaos. Hunters and trappers, miners and engineers, bounty hunters and merc, gastrotechs and outlaws…the Drifters.
The Fringe takes Space Westerns to another level. Lawless, gritty, and raw. Life out here is hard. Space travel is arduous. Neither technology nor magic can save you. Only you can save you.
The Fringe is the setting. The Drifters are the characters.
The stories will be of blue-collar heroes, sticking it to the centralized authorities. Grounded, character-driven tales set against the sprawling backdrop of an expansive and eccentric sci-fi world.
The first movie is already in development. Plot details and characters will be revealed and workshopped with the holder community after mint.
WHY?
Why do corporations and hedge funds own every single major movie franchise?
Why do white-collar executives make the creative decisions for beloved entertainment properties (constantly screwing them up)? Why is this normal?
We believe web3 is the future of filmmaking, allowing artists and fans to unite, cut out the corporations, and make better Intellectual Property.
With artists and fans at the helm, we believe movies can be made more carefully and lovingly, as opposed to being treated like assembly-line products whose ultimate goal is to churn a profit at all costs.
Web3 allows artists at all levels (the concept artists, VFX artists, the production designers) to share in control of the franchise, making it something much more than a contract day job, bringing passion back into the work, and honoring creative contributions across the board.
We intend for The Fringe to be the first major sci -fi IP to be fully controlled by its creators and biggest supporters.
Web3 also allows for the most hardcore supporters to take part in the creation of the world. Our discord community has already shown the power of crowdsourcing details, getting feedback on concepts, and extending the lore of the universe. After mint, this effect will be put on steroids.
The film industry faces a major problem in the difficulty of marketing original IP, resulting in a steady stream of derivative spin-offs and sequels. Creating a web3 community around an entity before a film ever comes out can solve this problem.
It’s already happening. Join us, and let’s build a world together.
[ https://discord.gg/thefringe ]
THE FUTURE OF NFTs IS NARRATIVE
One of the things that excites us the most about this project is how NFT technology allows us to create and distribute art that is fundamentally tied to a narrative universe.
The NFTs will support the creation of the cinematic universe, not just financially, but creatively as well.
The NFTs themselves are an act of narrative worldbuilding. They allow us to develop and experience the world in a way a movie could never achieve. It’s non-linear, sprawling, and organic. It establishes a rich foundation from which our narratives will emerge, endowing the universe with the heft of the real and making it all that much more immersive.
Conversely, the network of narrative properties that will be created under the umbrella of The Fringe will endow the NFTs themselves with that much more substance and value.
The designs featured in the collection - the helmets, the guns, the suits, the gear - will all be fodder for the production design of the movie. They will be made into physical objects that will live on the big screen. Some of the Drifters themselves will come alive as characters.
The NFTs are not the end product. They are just the beginning.
The growing stature of the cinematic universe at large will support the genesis Drifter NFTs. This world will be perpetually expanding and the Drifters will come to represent a whole ecosystem of entertainment media.
WHO ARE WE?
We’re filmmakers and we run a production company. Our project requires no major partnerships or additional bureaucracy.
We are the artists and after the mint, we will go do the thing we know how to do: make a movie.
Zeek Earl and Chris Caldwell wrote and directed the film PROSPECT starring Pedro Pascal. Prospect has a 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a passionate cult following. Variety argued, “this is what standalone Star Wars movies should feel like,” and Wired described it as “a lo-fi sci-fi film that’s better than its big budget brethren.”
Prospect producers Brice Budke and Scott Glassgold are also on board giving the project all the hard resources and access to Hollywood talent it needs.
In addition, the TAKA Collective is attached. TAKA is a diverse consortium of artists that came together to make Prospect. We’re a fully-staffed, almost entirely doxxed team. Check us out in more detail here.
The Drifter NFTs are the work of Laurie Greasley, the concept artist for Prospect and a prolific NFT artist in his own right.
Our NFTs are highly detailed because we are treating them as concept art for an actual film.
[PHOTOGRAPH of DRIFTER ART PAPER ROUGH DRAFT]
We’re building the world through its accouterments…the helmets, the suits, the guns, the gear.
THE FUTURE WE WANT
Prospect was made in a really unique way. The filmmakers were inspired by the creative paradise and emphasis on practical production design Peter Jackson setup to create the original Lord of the Rings movies in New Zealand. But those movies had hundreds of millions of dollars to work with. Was the same approach possible on an indie budget?
With a budget of just $4 million (roughly $600k of which was earmarked for studios and “financing fees”) the TAKA Collective opened their own production design studio to create all the many sets, props, and costumes for Prospect on their own.
By taking the entire production effort of the film completely independent, we were able to make a highly detailed sci-fi world to a level only seen in movies with much higher budgets.
For example, a spaceship miniature that a Hollywood production house quoted $75k to make was created for $8k. These savings multiplied across every element of the film. The plan was successful and Prospect was completed under budget.
[Picture of MATT WITH MINIATURE]
We want to finance the Fringe the same way we setup the TAKA Collective. Doing it ourselves. Doing it better. Keeping the artists at the center and the industry bullshit out.
The Fringe wants to take this successful independent model of making a film and cement it to sustainably make multiple films at a larger scale, but with the same level of quality and care you only find in passion projects.
To make Prospect we had to sell the IP. This is completely standard and this is the core problem.
We signed away the IP because it was the only way the film would ever get made. Since Prospect has been released we have been met with constant frustrations and limitations on what we can do to continue that world.
The Fringe changes all that.
The Fringe will be open, infinitely expandable, and controlled by us all.
BENEFITS OF BECOMING A DRIFTER
PARTICIPATION
Your Drifter NFT acts as a key to THE BENCH, a private discord that functions as a creative incubator and access portal.
In the Bench, Drifters will be able to participate in a variety of activities - including competing to get their NFT character featured in the film. Several side-characters in the story will be reserved for these community member NFTs.
The Bench will host numerous WORLDBUILDING LABS, where holders can react to and suggest ideas around the details that comprise the look, feel, and flavor of The Fringe universe. Topics will include spaceship design, weapon paradigms, as well as developing new stories in the universe.
High level votes will be held using DRIFT TIX and members will be able to earn additional tickets through participation.
We will also hold BRAND LABS to extend the universe beyond the medium of film. Targets include gaming and merchandising.
DROPS
NFTs holders will be eligible to compete to receive additional NFT drops of super rare LEAD CHARACTER DRIFTERS. Events will be held around each drop revealing story and character details, teasing and creating excitement for the film.
Additional NFT drops are being mapped out that will extend the universe into short stories, graphic novels, and other surprises that will diversify the Fringe NFT ecosystem.
PERKS
Holders will have access to exclusive BTS TRANSMISSIONS including live streams of the production shop, frequent in-depth filmmaking updates, propmaking process breakdowns, and direct access to the artists. During production we will also do exclusive AMAs with CAST MEMBERS.
We will hold a competition for one community member to appear as an extra in the film that is GRUESOMELY KILLED by a main character.
Holders will be eligible for opportunities to visit the shop, the set, and attend film events and parties.
SO JUST MOVIES?
Not at all.
The first film will be the flagship of the project and give the brand massive visibility outside of the silo of web3. And by harnessing the power of our community, we intend to create numerous forms of storytelling and entertainment before the film comes out.
Here are just a few examples of the way the universe can simultaneously expand to the film being made:
The Fringeling Compendium
Along with the Drifter NFT mint we will be releasing The Fringeling Compendium. This is an in-world encyclopedia detailing the purpose and backstory of the hundreds of pieces of gear featured in the Drifter NFTs. Filled with characters and lore from the world, this will allow the community to receive a primer on the universe and understand where their Drifter exists within it.
Graphic Novels and Short Stories
We love the idea of introducing fans to characters and elements of the world through additional mediums. Short stories can be incubated in a community lab. Graphic Novels can be distributed as NFTs. The lore of the world will be constantly expanding ahead of the film.
Tabletop Gaming
The Drifter art is very conducive to tabletop gaming formats. Through a community lab we plan to launch a tabletop game that progresses the story of the universe and can be sold commercially ahead of the film, introducing the wider world to the Fringe.
Merchandising
Sitting on a glut of icons, logos, schematics, and designs, we will hold labs where the community can help direct and launch all the dope merch The Fringe will yield before the film launches.
NFTs
We also have plans for additional NFT drops that we are not going to reveal just yet.
And more!
These are just the projects we already have plans for. We’re a big team with a big community and are open to all sorts of organic additions to the universe.
The path only broadens after the release of the film.
Video game partnership? Metaverse expansion? Everything is on the table. The success of the first film which will create a wider fanbase for these types of projects. Once the brand is established, the web3 community will be supercharged.
DRIFT TIX
Four weeks after mint, holders will be eligible to receive Drift Tix.
Tix have two functions:
- Tix can be used as votes for creative decisions in our worldbuilding labs. Feel particularly passionate about a creative option? Throw some weight behind it!
- Tix can also be exchanged for exclusive NFT collectables.
Drift Tix will be earned in two ways:
- Holding your Drifter NFT. Tix will be disbursed periodically at set dates to current holders.
- Creative participation in the labs. Give feedback, participate in polls, throw out ideas - earn tix.
MINTING PROCESS
Our minting process will involve making a choice.
To mint a Drifter, you'll first have to "Choose Your Sector" from an in-world starmap featuring three main locations: Earlie Prime, Skarem, and Space.
Each location will have it's own unique subregions, aesthetics, and types of Drifters, and unique elements. Minters will be able to choose the style they gravitate toward most.
But in addition to style, there will be other factors to consider. Scarcity will be different as not every location contains the same amount of Drifters and each location will have different odds for minting ultra-rare NFTs.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
While Ethereum has a fixed emissions cost regardless of how many transactions are utilizing it, because we are benefiting from it's usage and validating it's existence by doing so, we want to account for our "portion" of the environmental impact.
Based on the average CO2 emissions/transaction, we estimate our project will account for 150 metric tons - or roughly the same as a 737 flying from NYC to LA.
For immediate action, we will be purchasing offsets from Nori, an organization that supports farmers in carbon removal, rather than simply avoidance or reduction.
Long term, we want to turn carbon offsets into a creative challenge.
Film production itself will produce more carbon that the NFT mint.
So we're looking into buying our own plot of reclaimed cattle land to sequester carbon by planting trees ourselves. Here we will establish a spaceship reliquary. After production movie sets tend to end up in dumpsters. Instead making more landfill fodder, we want to retire our spaceships on this reclaimed property, creating a pilgrimage site for fans.
Additionally, by being independent from the studio system, we have the power to invest in green filmmaking practices to lower emissions for our off-chain activities as well.